Between The Pipes: Goalie Resources

Eastern USA Hockey

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The Next Ones 2013 NHL Draft Preliminary Rankings : The Hockey Writers: Excerpt:"2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the NHL Entry Draft. With an immense amount of talent to be had, this installment of hockey’s version of Christmas is shaping up to be one of the finest in the past decade. Is it ever too early to think about the NHL’s next entry draft?
With the Fail For Nail 2012 NHL draft playing out in June, the focus is now turned to the 2013 class which has the potential to be the best since the revered 2003 draft.
Unfortunately for Rangers fans, the team won’t have the opportunity to redeem the gaffe of drafting Hugh Jessiman 12th overall in 2003, with their 1st round pick being traded to Columbus in the Rick Nash deal.

It is also eight years since the historic post-lockout Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes Lottery Draft. The similarities between the upcoming draft and the 2005 edition are downright eerie.

Any rankings completed at this point will evolve and look quite different as the hockey season wears on. Prospects who are not currently so highly regarded will attempt their best impersonations of Hampus Lindholm in an effort to escalate their draft stocks. At the other end of the spectrum, there will be Nick Ebert-like plummets. In a vast majority of preliminary rankings last season, Nick Ebert was highly touted as a potential Top 10 pick. The Los Angeles Kings prospect ended up drafted last overall as 2012’s Mr. Irrelevent.Ebert has plenty of incentive to prove naysayers wrong this season and beyond.

By now, most hockey fans know the story of Nathan MacKinnon and the uncannily similar path shared with Sidney Crosby. The two sub-6’0” ultra-talented, exceptionally explosive, game-breaking centremen both hail from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. They both played at the hockey factory that is Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school. They were both drafted 1st overall in the QMJHL.

Both Crosby and MacKinnon went into their draft eligible seasons as the favoured number one overall selection.

The season before Crosby’s draft was lost due to a NHL lockout. The current season is in great danger of the same fate.

Will every NHL team have a shot (with weighted odds) at drafting the phenom prospect MacKinnon as they did Crosby? Who will land The Next, Next One?

Keeping Up With The Joneses

Unlike Crosby, MacKinnon faces a colossal challenge for the number one overall draft position. The son of former NBA player, Popeye Jones, Seth Jones has everything you want in a future cornerstone blueliner – size, skill, skating ability, hockey IQ and passion.

Depending on the team holding down the number one overall pick and how the season plays out, Jones has a legitimate chance at supplanting MacKinnon as the top pick in 2013."